Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1887-09-23
The Rising of the Mile,

Now the fleet of Nile craft decreases, and
the chatting of the boatmen is almost hush
ed How splendid are the scenes on every
side How they change every mile The
palms the Arab villages, the minarets and
domes of the mosques, appear in slow sue
cession again the pyramids are in view
and always is heard the sound of the busy
shadoof and the dreamy squeak of the SAX
iyeh. The shores now reveal how Egypt
was created, film upon film, layer upon lay
er. One marvels not that the people who
live upon them, even now, look upon the
Nile as The Giver of all good"
1t moves on and on before them as gent
ly as the rays of the rising moon 1t is al
ways kindly. 1t gives water and food
gives life Once a year it rises and widens,
and almost entirely submerges the tillable
land at its sides. What it does not so reach,
it is made to reach by artificial means The
overflow is no misfortune to those whose
homes are upon its banks 1t is their best
blessing For the Nile well repays for the
right of way duriug the inundation, by
leaving deposit upon the land which is
worth its weight in gold. 1t does not
change its habits it never brings surprise
and destruction 1t is good to the people
who trust in it. The sun always shines for
them; and when unmolested and untram-
melled their dispositions are sunshiny.
They hre hospitable, generous, willing to
serve the stranger, industrious, religious,
misunderstood, brow wbeaten, taxed, basti
nadoed, and discouraged until their spirit
is almost gone. And yet they are good
natured, patient, and seem to be happy!
When the time approaches for the in
undation the Arab farmer is all expect
ancy. His canals are cleared and he pro-
tects his home by dikes and walls of adobe
This done, seated at his door, he watches
with satisfaction and gratitude the rise
and approach of the water which holds his
little wealth. 1t is several months rising
to its greatest height, and then as slowly
and gradually subsidies. Then appears
again to his delighted vision the husband
mans farm. His palm-trees seem to rise
to a greater reach, and their waving
branches add to the scene of calm and con-
tent which pervades all. Already his we'll
filed canals have defined themselves and
his irrigating machinery is at once put in
repair There is no more use for the boats
which have served to carry him from place
to place during the inundation. They are
hidden among the rushes on the banks of
the canal. Every available person is now
pressed into the service II the thin de-
pOSlt OF uuu lelJ DN JHe ueDhIIlnE TlVeT Is
kept moist, its value remains at par. If the
hot sun is allowed to play upon it, it soon
becomes baked and curls up into tiny cylin-
ders; then, breaking into fragments, it
falls dead and worse than useless. There
fore the process of irrigation must begin
at once. The rude sakiyeh and the ruder
shadoof are kept going night and day, and
give employment to tens of thousands of
the people, and cattle as well With these
primitive appliances the water is lifted and
emptied into the channels which have been
dug or diked to receive it. From these
larger receptacles the water is led to small
er ones, which, overfowing, cover the
fields.
In little time, then, a Nile farm be-
comes a rare beauty-spot, instead of
waste of mud; for now the crops are
grown. The lentis bend with their
heavy load and the fields of grain turn
their well-flled heads from side to side that
freshness into gold. What landscape,
unadorned by art, can be more lovely than
such farm, narrow though its limits may
be, with its grove of palms to fan the breeze
and scatter their sweet fruitage into the
lap of the happy fellahin! Here no weeds
grow to annoy him No stone-crops are
belched to the surface each year to stop the
plough. And this is good, for the Egyptian
plough has no scientifically curved Golfer or
subsoil attachment. When the crops are
ripened the irrigation must rest while,
for all hands are passed TO help with the
ingathering. THE Modern Nile, " in Sc,ib-
Her's Magazine for September.